First El Paso Touist Trip

We wanted to take Ashley for a fun tip before she left, so we went to Indian Cliff's Ranch at Cattleman's Steak House. It was fun to see all the animals and eat the amazing steak! Joseph got caught up in all the excitement and gave Kimball a big, non-prompted hug!

As we were leaving we saw a coyote, and right after he disappeared into the brush, we saw a road runner follow right after him. It felt like we were watching an old cartoon!

It's oficial--His name is on the door!!!

We were able to go to the official opening of the Peters new dental office here in El Paso. It was the strangest thing to see Peter Gurr DDS on the door. I can't believe he's the DR! He will do a wonderful job!
This is a living testament to how much Joseph loves the movie "Madagascar," or in his words, "the funny tiger movie." Normally Joseph will run away whenever I try to take his picture, but when he saw the room with all the posters he went around to each one and asked me to take his picture. I couldn't believe it!

I was very impressed with what a nice, new office it was.

I'm going to get one of those! Ready, set....

...JUMP!

I still can't believe his name is on the door!

The ribbon cutting

1Year Haircut

Can you tell he loves to eat?

In keeping with the tradition I started with Joseph, I had to give Kimball a haircut for his first birthday. He had been needing a haircut for a while, but I just couldn't bring myself to cut off those adorable little curls. But his hair wasn't curling much anymore so it had to go. He still looks so handsome, and so grown up now.

"Oh, I love you Ashley!"

Texas!!!

We finally made it! It was so nice to have our husband/daddy back! We had an exciting trip. Joseph loved flying on the airplane and was so excited we were "Going to Texas!" He loved the fact that Aunt Ashley came with us and entertained him the whole flight. Kimball and I had lots of bonding time while he screamed most of the flight. He was still so sick and just wanted to be in his own bed. I totally agreed with him!

It really was a huge relief to finally make it to El Paso and be with Peter again. And the huge stress of transient medical insurance was finally over--yuck!

So here are our first few pictures of Texas!

We love our back yard! There are 7 foot high stone walls so it feels so private! And we have green grass and lots of trees surrounding the yard--two very rare things in El Paso, so we feel very lucky! We wake up to sunshine, palm trees, and doves every morning. It is such a breath of fresh air from the Buffalo cold and clouds. I do however, REALLY miss water. In Buffalo there were lakes, ponds and rivers everywhere. In El Paso the only water is the Rio Grande, which is not very grand, and it's a little scary that close to the boarder.

Joseph loves playing in his sand table. He's out there for hours everyday--it's great!

There is a little awning in the corner of the yard, so it's perfect for the boys to play under and not worry about getting a sunburn. Joseph loves the bugs here--mostly little red and black beatles. He is constantly calling for me to show me his latest catch. He always says, "Mom, he's so nice. He really likes me!" He then lets the bug crawl all over him.

It's great because I was really worried about cockroaches, scorpions, and rattlesnakes, but they are no where to be found in our neighborhood!

Pnemonia

Poor little Kimball did not get to enjoy his first birthday very much because he was so sick. He then spent most of the next day in the emergency room.

The entire week we were in CT, Kimball was sick with a cold. On Sunday morning, the day after his birthday, Kimball woke up really happy. He seemed like he was finally getting better. After a few hours of relief, I took the boys outside to play. After a few minutes I could tell something was wrong with Kimball, he did not look right; so I took him inside to give him some Motrin. As I gave him the medicine I noticed he felt really warm, and his breathing was very quick. Two minutes later Kimball started shaking and his eyes rolled back. I grabbed him and held him, and he just went limp. (I later learned he had a little febrile seizure). After a few minutes, Kimball relaxed a little and was so tired. He just laid on the couch and panted. He could barely breath. He panted in and out every second. I was very scared! Luckily I was a my parents house, so I had my Mom to help me through it. It was terrible because Peter was half way across the country driving our things to Texas.

So my mom quickly called one of the young women from church, Paulette, who was wonderful and came over to watch Joseph while we took Kimball to the emergency room. I then called Peter and told him we were taking Kimball to the emergency room. That was a horrible call! I just heard Peter start crying as he said, "I'm driving in the wrong direction." We both wished he could have been there, but we knew we were being watched over.

As my mom and I drove to downtown Hartford, we saw that the entrance to the hospital was blocked off. There was some crazy Puerto Rican holiday so we kept getting directed to different detours around the hospital. After a few blocks of that, my mom rolled down her window and started shouting at a police officer that we needed to get a baby to the hospital (way to go mom!). We were then ushered right up.

We got Kimball in and they took his temperature. It was 103.2 (and that was with Motrin). So they immediately gave him some Tylenol, which only brought his fever down to 102.5. Poor kid was so sick. After a few chest X-Rays, they said he had pneumonia and gave him a shot of antibiotic in each leg, and sent us home with a RX for more.

What a heart-wrenching experience. It was so sad to see Kimball so sick! The next three days were really rough because Kimball needed constant supervision and comfort. He could hardly breath. I am so grateful to my parents and Ashley who helped me so much! They accompanied Kimball and I on are 2 am walk outside to help his lungs open up, offered lots of support, helped me keep track of his constant medication, and who took over for me when I started vomiting and passing out from exhaustion. Thank You!!!

Despite being incredibly sick and hooked up to all sorts of monitors, Kimball still had his smile. What a sweet little boy!

Rest time

After a week of running around and not getting enough sleep, all the boys were ready for a little down time. The Bee Movie had them all in a trance.

Outside cuties

The boys had fun playing in grandma and grandpa's huge, green yard and cooling off in the pool.

Playing with cousin Nathaniel

Playing with cousin Cohen

UCONN Farm

We had a lot of fun seeing all the stinky cows and feeding the horses on the farm. As much as the boys loved the animals, I think the visit to the Dairy was the highlight. Joey loved the swivel chairs, and both boys devoured their ice cream. Can you tell Kimball was not feeling well?

Happy First Birthday Kimball!

We celebrated Kimball's birthday a little early so everyone could see him tear into that yummy cake. I can't believe he is one year old already. Our little Kimball is a huge ball of energy and smiles. At 1 year he weighs in at 28 pounds and is 33 inches tall. His weight is now on the charts (95%), and his height continues to be off the chart. He loves being with other people and is very social. He loves to be thrown around, upside down, and on the couch. He is constantly making a little motor boat sound with his mouth, and always talks/yells really loudly--we can never sit too long in a formal setting with him. Church is spent in the hallways. Kimball is a very strong little baby. He does not like to immobilized or held down in any way, so trying to change his diaper or get him dressed is a huge battle. I feel like I'm in a wrestling match with a little body that is too strong for it's own good. We love you! Thanks for bringing your joy to our family Kimball!